December 2021 Monthly Challenge

[KreativeK]

Here is Town Cats; I cropped out the left side in this 6.25x4.25 watercolor to focus more on the animals. The left side building is not that orangey.

 

[Joy]

Kay, nice and fresh! I had in mind to crop it also. Considering you're so talented, I am patting myself on the back for thinking of that, too!

 

[Queen Bee]

Like your crop. Great idea to give the cats more focus.

 

[Christel]

Jo - cool tomatoes!
Esther - well done with the skiers!
Kay - cool! Love the placement of animals in an urban scene!

 

[Hawkmoth]

Lovely work Kay, I love the colours and your choice of crop.

I went for the snowboarder. Watercolours (+tiny area of watercolour pencils just for the visor!) on NOT watercolour paper, size A4-ish.

 

[Joy]

Claudia, how outstanding! One can really see the excellent texture on the fabric, and movement of the skier.

 

[ColorEnthusiast]

Kay, good idea to crop out the fence on the left. Nice painting with the warm colors and the cats to add life.

Claudia, well done with the snowboarder. There is a good sense of movement in your painting and the fabric looks good.

 

[KreativeK]

Good one Claudia!

 

[Christel]

My version of the bird using mainly gouache, A4

 

[Joy]

Christel, beautiful version. I was looking a a crop of that, too, as I did not want the branch leading out of the corners of the painting. I might try a sketch so I do not overwork it so. May I ask, how long did this take you? Do you draw freehand? I do, but it takes me quite a while to get the proportions right.

 

[Christel]

Thanks. I don't paint free hand, Joy. Crop so that the branch doesn't exit at corners?

 

[Joy]

Christel, sorry I wasn't clear. I meant by drawing free hand, do you trace the drawing or draw it out yourself? And that it was a good idea for the composition that you painted to not have the branch upon which the bird is perching to exit the paper in the diagonal corners, thus leading the viewer's eye out of the painting. I have never seen a painting of yours that was not frame worthy!

 

[KreativeK]

Nice work!

 

[Christel]

Thanks Kay!
Joy - I can draw but I find tracing so much faster

 

[Hawkmoth]

Really lovely robin Christel! So lively and vibrant, it really looks like it's singing it's little heart out! Very well painted.

December isn't great for me so I've decided to give myself the goal of painting ALL of this months references (I liked them all enough to choose them, so why not?!) I will post as many as I manage to do, but please do NOT feel you need to comment on them all!

I wanted bright colours and to see the paper texture so I painted this entirely with Inktense pencils (dry pencil onto dry paper, then brushed gently with water). I just added the shadows at the end with watercolour to ensure they would be transparent. It's the first time I've done a whole painting with Inktense pencils, so it was quite interesting. I'm pleased with the texture on the buildings.

I'm going for the robin next!!!

 

[Christel]

Beautiful work Hawkmoth!

 

[Joy]

Claudia, wonderful brights and composition!

 

[ColorEnthusiast]

Christel, a lovely robin. Very natural and you can nearly hear it singing.

Claudia, beautiful. The texture created with the pencils is gorgeous and fits so well to the buildings and the ground.

 

[KreativeK]

A lovely robin, Christel!
Claudia, this one rocks! Thanks for explaining how you did it.

 

[ams]

Lovely work so far this month.

I've been experimenting with water-soluble graphite and watercolor pencils. This one was started with sketch, then inking. I put in values with water-soluble graphite and then added color with Derwent Watercolor Pencils. It was done in a small (4"x6") Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook. I have mixed feelings about the results. I think the graphite didn't completely set when I added water it mixed in a little with the watercolor pencils. I also had trouble getting the bright red for the tomatoes I was trying for. Despite some of the problems, I had fun with the experiment.

Thanks Claudia for hosting.